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AFPM ’14: US MMA maintenance schedule has some on edge

31 March 2014 21:50
Source:ICIS News

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ICIS)--Planned spring maintenance among the major US methyl methacrylate (MMA) producers has some customers on edge, but there will be ample supply to get through the temporary production outages even if demand continues to improve, a seller said on Monday on the sidelines of the International Petrochemical Conference (IPC).

“We always build sufficient inventory for this,” the producer said, but allowed that unexpected restart delays could briefly tighten the currently balanced market.

A source close to Dow Chemical said the company’s MMA turnaround at Deer Park, Texas, where it operates a 360,000 tonne/year plant, would be conducted mid-April to mid-May, but other sources at the conference here understood that Dow’s facility was already in turnaround. The schedule, however, was not yet confirmed by Dow.

Evonik said its 150,000 tonne/year Fortier, Louisiana, plant will also be down from the end of April until some time in May, and Lucite’s 155,000 tonne/year Memphis, Tennessee, plant is scheduled to be down during May.

Meanwhile, there is mostly optimism about coatings demand for full-year 2014, with forecast year-over-year improvement of 4-6% for the spring coatings season, some sources said, though seasonal demand likely will be delayed by persistently harsh winter, especially in the US northeast.

Hosted by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), the IPC continues through Tuesday.

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